


Quicksand

by catradorbs



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Crimson Waste, F/F, Gangs, Sandcats, catradora, crimson waste au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:01:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25292854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catradorbs/pseuds/catradorbs
Summary: What if Catra decided to stay with Scorpia in the Crimson Waste? Starting in S3E3: Once Upon a Time in the Crimson Waste, this fic is my exploration of how it would go if Catra hadn't found out that Adora was in the Waste and thus decided to stay.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 125





	1. Should I stay or should I go?

**Author's Note:**

> Fair warning, I haven’t written fanfiction in a very long time but thanks Kate for all the help editing and making sure I stay in the correct tense haha. You’ll notice that most of this chapter is directly transcribed from s3e3: Once Upon a Time in the Crimson Waste (wow that took forever to do), but I changed a few details to make the rest of my story make sense! I hope you enjoy reading - please leave comments if you feel so inclined! I’d love to hear your thoughts :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, I haven’t written fanfiction in a very long time but thanks Kate for all the help editing and making sure I stay in the correct tense haha. You’ll notice that most of this chapter is directly transcribed from s3e3: Once Upon a Time in the Crimson Waste (wow that took forever to do), but I changed a few details to make the rest of my story make sense! I hope you enjoy reading - please leave comments if you feel so inclined! I’d love to hear your thoughts :)

“Maybe we shouldn’t pick on the heavily armed crowd?” Scorpia suggests.

“What are they going to do, send me to die in the Crimson Waste? Oh, would you look at that! I’m already here.”

Catra can feel eyes on the back of her head, and whips around to the other end of the bar where a large, toad-like person is staring. She growls again but the figure holds their gaze. He clears his throat, “There are only two rules in the Crimson Waste! One-” He’s cut off by Catra laughing, and the whole room turns to watch.

“So, here’s the thing. I’ve done this. The whole ‘threatening people’ bit, the intimidation. I’ve been there. And I just _don’t care_ anymore. ” Catra slams her hand on the bar and begins to slowly drag her nails across it. 

“ _Some_ people have a bad day. I’ve had a bad _life_. If I want something, it’s taken from me. If I win a fight, I lose the war.” She jumps up on the bar, throwing her cloak on someone sitting there and then stealing their knife. 

“Threats only work on someone who has something to lose. But me? I’ve already lost it all.” She leans in close. 

“And you can’t be any good at this, because you just let yourself get distracted.” The toad person tries to whirl around, but is too late. Scorpia stings him with her tail, knocking him out cold. The crowd gasps. 

Catra smirks. “You!” She points to an unlucky patron at the bar. “Know of any weird tech around here?” 

She hesitates, her blonde fox ears twitching. 

“It’s a simple question, _yes_ or _no_?”

“Y-yes.” She seems uncertain.

“Great. You’re gonna take us to it.” The fox girl looks nervous, but nods, standing.

They walk out of the bar, but not before Catra takes a jacket off the person at the bar whose knife she stole earlier. It’s denim, with the arms ripped off and a snake design on the back.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They walk for a while, Catra and Scorpia laughing at the locals.

“Oh boy, you really had them going! I’ve never seen a room of murderous toughs look so freaked out before! It was truly an honor to witness.”

“What, those washed up hacks? They needed to be taught what happens when they try to threaten _me_.”

“Well they won’t be bothering us anymore that’s for sure!”

“Y’know, I’m starting to think this place gets a bad rap.”

“Oh, I’m with you. It’s nice and toasty, if you look for the ground ripples you can avoid the quicksand, and my exoskeleton is _loving_ this dry climate!”

“And you can take whatever you want! The meaner you are, the more they listen.” Catra turns to their guide. “Gimme your dart gun!” 

“Oh, uh, yeah.” The fox girl shuffles for it, quickly handing it over. Catra laughs.

“I think I’m going to call you _Kyle_.”

“Um, what?”

“ _Shut up and keep walking, Kyle!_ ”

“Uh, okay.” She doesn’t look pleased but goes along with the new nickname.

The Horde members get a good kick out of it, laughing at inside ‘Kyle jokes’ as they walk.

“So…” Scorpia starts. “This is fun.”

Catra thinks for a second before agreeing. “Yeah… it is.” Scorpia stops walking, and Catra turns to see what is the matter, but Scorpia is just smiling, holding her claws to her face. “Stop it right now or I take it all back!”

“I’m not saying anything!”

“Ugh. You’re doing that _thing_ with your face where it’s obvious what you’re thinking.”

“Do you mean, smiling?”

“Look, I’m just acknowledging-” Scorpia puts out a claw to stop Catra, pointing to the ground ripples ahead. Catra throws a stone and it sinks, confirming that there is a patch of quicksand along the path. In a low voice Catra finishes her sentence: “We make a good team, that’s it.”

“Right. A good team. That’s. _Us_ .” They turn a corner and a huge skull comes into view. “This is crazy! Are there really animals this big? Come _on_.”

“Not anymore.” A faint scratching noise can be heard, and some pebbles tumble down the slope of the canyon beside them. Catra’s ears flick back and she growls. Turning quickly, she grabs ‘Kyle’ by the front of her jacket. “What are you trying to pull?!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She replies loftily.

“Catra, what’s going on?”

She groans. “I’ll tell you what’s going on. Kyle here led us right into an ambush.” A bunch of rowdy individuals begin to show themselves, coming out from every imaginable hiding spot in the area. They shout and jeer as a large lizard-looking guy walks out from the mouth of that giant skull, growling.

“It’s Tung Lashor!” Catra laughs.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Tung Lashor leads the number two gang in the Crimson waste. He’s been itching to push Huntara out for years, and become number one. With her gone, they’d run this place.”

Lashor’s voice booms out over the others and echoes about the canyon. “And it looks like today is our lucky, _lucky_ day.” He jumps from the bottom jaw, landing on his feet a few stories below, double-ended tail twitching. “Never thought you’d be dumb enough to step foot out here without _Huntara_ . But here you are. And now I’m gonna leave your _bones_ as a warning to all who cross _Tung Lashor_ , _strongest_ in the Crimson Waste!” He cracks his whip loudly.

Catra throws her head back, laughing. “It sounds even _stupider_ the second time! Seriously, ‘Tung Lashor’?” She makes a face while saying his name. “Pffft, which one of you came up with _that_?”

Scorpia chuckles, “Right? It’s like, what, did you lose a bet?” A few laughs could be heard from the group surrounding them. They were quickly silenced. 

“You _done_ , outsider?” Lashor growls.

Catra just laughs. “Are you _kidding_? I’m just getting started! First, all that ‘leaving your bones’ talk,” she puts a hand to her face, “It’s just too much. But I’m sure around here you’re considered veeewy scaaawy.” She drawls, holding her hands to her face and swishing her tail. “Second, they’re not with Huntara anymore, they’re with me. And third,” She walks even closer, eyeing him up and down. “I like that whip. I think I’ll be taking it.”

Lashor chuckles, “Hohoho, is that so? Big talk for a little--”

“Hey, do you even know how to use a whip?” Scorpia cuts him off. 

“Can’t be that hard if this guy figured it out.” Catra’s reply causes an uproar of laughter from the spectators. 

“Uh, I _said--_ ” He’s cut off again.

“I think it’s all in the wrist, like wa-pow! Crack! Whip!” She dances around, pretending to use a whip.

“No, I’m not gonna say ‘whip’ when I use the whip. No one does that.”

“Ooo maybe you could say a catchphrase then! Like, uh… like, like whip!” Catra rolls her eyes. “It’s- I mean, I-I’m just spitballing here. Like, uh, I don’t know, like-”

“ _ENOUGH!_ I’m gonna wipe that smirk off your _face_ , outsider!” Lashor throws off his jacket, growling. “Who’s the _strongest_ in the Crimson Waste?” 

Their audience shouts back asynchronously, “Lashor! Lashor! Lashor!” 

He leans down, “And don’t you forget it. Rrrrah!” Lashor snaps the whip towards Catra and Scorpia, forcing them to jump apart. He circles it through the air, “Whip!” And the fight begins.

Lashor runs at Catra, Scorpia tries to follow but spears and arrows land in her path, cutting her off from the dual. Out of the corner of her eye she sees fox-girl-Kyle run off the way they had come.

Lashor whips at her, but Catra’s speed and flexibility keeps her out of its path. Flipping and jumping off the canyon walls, she narrowly escapes being hit. Pulling out her new knife, she tries to lead Lashor further into the desert’s maze, but his whip connects, wrapping around her ankle. He yanks, dragging her through the sand back towards him, picking her up by her foot. 

“Where’s all that big talk now, kitty?”

“Catra!” Scorpia calls out. Lashor begins laughing, holding her up so her face is close to his. 

_His breath stinks and he’s dragging out the evil laugh_ way _too long._ She blinks at him, and eventually he stops. 

“Ehehehehehe.” She mocks, then throws sand in his face that she grabbed earlier. Using her other foot she kicks his jaw upwards as hard as she can. He drops her and she lands neatly, facing her opponent who is rubbing his eyes.

“You cheating little-” He rushes her again, whipping furiously. Avoiding them with ease, Catra lands on a rock, but it wobbles, and she realizes that she’s surrounded by quicksand. Lashor rushes her, but Catra neatly flips off of her rock and onto solid ground as Lashor crashes into the quicksand. “What? Oh no.”

“Oh, hold on.” Catra sounds genuine and reaches out her hand. Lashor tosses her the end of the whip and for a second she starts to pull him in, then smiles and yanks it out of his grasp.

“Great. Thanks for the whip.”

“Guys! Anybody! Help me, please!” Lashor thrashes in the ground.

Catra walks back to Scorpia, laughing. “That was too easy!” She finishes wrapping up the whip and puts it on her hip. “ _Now_ , who’s the strongest in the Crimson Waste?”

Scorpia starts the chant: “CA-TRA! CA-TRA! CA-TRA! CA-TRA! CA-TRA! CA-TRA! CA-TRA!”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“That was so easy!” Catra laughs. “Now we can start looking for the tech, I’m sure one of these goons knows something about it.”

“Or?” Scorpia begins. Catra turns around, confused and minorly annoyed. This detour has already taken more time than she’d anticipated.

“We could… stay here?”

Catra pauses, looking down to think for a minute. The laughter and shouting from the party continues around them. She turns away, chewing her lip. 

_We could be so close to just getting the tech and going back to Hordak; to proving my worth --_ our _worth--_ or _, he could just end up sending me on another death trap mission because this one didn’t do the trick._

_It_ is _pretty fun bossing these losers around… maybe I could stay for awhile, find the First Ones tech and hang on to it. That way, my ‘punishment’ will seem to be served, and I can return with the tech - plus another army, to boot. If this is the ‘toughest gang’ then I’m sure the others will be even easier._

“I…I think I’d like that.” Catra looks up at her. Scorpia grins and scoops her up into a big hug.

“Yes! Super pal tri- _duo_ Crimson Waste take-over!” For the third time that day, Catra smiles. She feels a little bad for not telling the whole truth to Scorpia, but she’ll understand when the time comes, right?


	2. Fixer Upper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She didn't apply with a resume, but Catra DEFINITELY has the credentials to run a gang!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to Kate for helping me so so so much with this fic, it really means the world <3 This one is a bit shorter, but I promise you there is WAY more on the way! Again, if you have comments please feel free to leave them!

The sun glares down through the canyon, giant ribs forming stripes along its floor. Inside the huge skull, there was a shelter built off the back of the skull such that you have to walk through the giant mouth of glistening teeth to get there. It’s made of crudely sewn tarps and tents. Catra inspects the space. It’s full of loot and a random assortment of trophies from past fights. A finger here, a necklace there, varying weapons and clothing. She sees Scorpia approach a pair of fancy-looking boots, leather with silver plating and design with a spiked steel toe. Catra steps back outside of the makeshift room. 

“You! Where do the rest of you stay? This can’t be the whole place.” The gang member squeaks in surprise and straightens his posture before replying,

“There are supposed to be more tunnels underneath, but Lashor didn’t talk about them.”

“Show me.”

They walk back into Lashor’s loot room, and the member walks over to the back corner, lifting a trap door under a rug on the floor. Catra gestures to Scorpia to follow them. They descend a ladder into the dark of the bunker. The gang member lights a torch on the wall. It reveals a long metal-walled hallway with wooden support beams holding a sagging ceiling. 

They walk along until another tunnel shoots off to the side. Following this, there are rooms with a few sorry-looking prisoners and others with just piles of dusty bones. 

“Where are the keys?” Their companion squirms.

“L-Lashor just shoved the doors on, there weren’t any keys.” 

Catra looks over at Scorpia. “Take the doors off.” After a big pull and a cloud of dust, the prisoners looked up in wonder, squinting against the light of the torch. Catra clears her throat.

“I don’t give a shit what you did, if you can prove yourself to me I’ll let you stay. If not, your new prison is tied up outside until you’re fried alive. Got it?” They nod. “Good. Now that that’s out of the way, you!” She points at the gang member. “Grab a handful of your friends and fix this place up. I want a map of every tunnel, and I want it to be structurally sound by the time I come back.”

They walked back the way they had come, Scorpia blabbering about how Catra makes such a good leader. When they make it outside, Catra turns to her. “If you like those boots, take them. Then I need you to find out how they’re getting food and where the rest of them sleep.” She finds a nicer dagger than the one she took from the bar and exchanges them on her belt. 

“You got it, boss!” Scorpia starts to walk away.

“And Scorp?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t ask, tell. And... thanks. This is gonna be fun.” Scorpia grins.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The underground compound is similar to a Horde bunker, the tunnels forming a large maze with off-shoots and rooms. There’s a large center room with a bunch of machinery and old crates full of various supplies, and another larger exit on the opposite side. There’s even a well in the deepest part of the tunnels. Catra went through the map re-labeling rooms for their new purposes. The prisoners that she had recruited were too weak to fight, so she set them about taking inventory. When she received the list back, her eyebrows shot up in surprise. 

“Lashor had skiffs? And he didn’t use them? Wow this guy was even stupider than I thought.” She walks out of what she had turned into a command tent, all of the loot stashed in a room down below. 

“Which one of you is good with tech?” A few hands raised. “Good. I want all of you downstairs now. Your mission is to fix and build as many skiffs as you can. Make them different sizes and make them go _fast_ .” The small group looks around at each other. “Did I stutter? Get down there _NOW_.” They all scramble past her down the hatch. 

Scorpia reports back to Catra. “They said that they mostly steal food from whoever walks through, or they go on pillaging towns but the towns are so far that most of the food gets eaten on the way back. Oh and they sleep on the ground between the ribs.” 

“Yeesh this guy did NOT know how to run a gang. Lucky for them, I’m in charge now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> World building is fun, yeah?
> 
> Next time: “WHO’S THE STRONGEST IN THE CRIMSON WASTE?!”


	3. "Sandcats"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra reminds her gang who is boss, Scorpia works out some feels!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello! Another shout out to Kate for all of the help! This one was fun to write, I hope you all enjoy! As always, feel free to comment :)

Over the next few weeks, repairs to the bunker and skiffs were finished. Their first pillaging run was a huge success, largely because of Catra and Scorpia’s planning and Horde training. Their gang had grown in size, new recruits walking in almost daily. Catra wasn’t sure when people started calling them a name, but apparently “Sandcats” stuck. She’d heard rumors of another big gang in the waste led by ….Hunter? Hotter? Haughty? Hunty? Whatever. Main thing was, their leader disappeared, and its members were now looking for protection from the fiercest-- and now largest-- gang around. 

There remained some tension between the new members and Lashor’s old gang; occasional fights continued to break out. As part of gang initiation, each recruit is forced to fight in a twisted hazing ritual dreamt up largely for her personal entertainment. Catra would select one of her existing members of a similar size, and make them duke it out until someone was pinned or otherwise defeated. Despite the cruel delight she personally found in this rite of passage, it seemed to be creating grudges and increasing the already high tension between groups of members. Fed up with the stupidity, Catra finally decides to do something about it. 

She walks into the mess hall, and watches as two tables argue until someone throws a punch. She calmly walks in and slams her hand down on a table so hard it flips over. All eyes turn to her. She circles the two groups slowly, dragging her nails along table after table before turning to face them. She growls, “Outside,  _ now _ .” And everyone scrambles out the door and out of the bunker. Once they are all outside, Catra slowly walks out from between the teeth of the skull that serves as their entrance.

She stops just a few feet away, the two trouble makers and their squads staring at her silently, facing each other. One of them is a lanky, scaled creature with bulky thighs and beady black eyes, wearing a white tank top and gold chain underneath their gang jacket. The other is a furred one, with big arms, little hands and fangs. Each ‘squad’ is made up of five or six people. Everyone else had climbed up onto the ribs of the cage-like arena to watch. 

Before anyone can blink, she delivers a simultaneous punch and kick to each of their faces. Both members fall flat on their backs. Everything is silent for a beat, then both groups begin attacking. 

Catra takes each of them out, punching, kicking, clawing, or whipping every last one of them into submission until they are all on the ground and stay there. Cheering rises up from the walls, echoing down the canyon. Catra relishes in it for a moment, then holds up her claw to silence them.

Voice booming, she shouts: “WHO’S THE STRONGEST IN THE CRIMSON WASTE?!”

The response comes in two beat synchronicity: “CA-TRA!”

“WHO  _ PROTECTS  _ YOU?”

“CA-TRA!”

“WHO  _ PROVIDES  _ FOR YOU?”

“CA-TRA!”

“AND WHO ARE YOU  _ LOYAL  _ TO?”

“CA-TRA!”

Her voice lowers to a growl, “Then  _ why  _ are we fighting each other based on  _ severed  _ ties to old,  _ weak  _ leaders?” She glares at the members on the ground. The two “leaders”’ struggle to a standing position. They look at each other, then back to her, then back at each other. One of them starts chanting, and the rest join in until all of the voices around her are screaming loud in her ears.

“CA-TRA! CA-TRA! CA-TRA! CA-TRA! CA-TRA! CA-TRA! CA-TRA! CA-TRA! CA-TRA! CA-TRA!” Her blue and gold eyes glint in the night.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After her show of strength, Catra looks pleased with herself. Most of the spectators head back to their semi-public bar nearby -  _ Wasted _ . It was a very corny name, but she used it as a front for gaining intel from locals that weren’t of fighting quality. She has a quick drink with some of her more loyal members, then heads off to her quarters. Scorpia decides to stay with the gang at the bar. 

“That was incredible, right?! Catra’s such a great fighter and such an awesome leader! I’ve never seen anything so badass in my life!” The group laughs. One of the lizards - she thinks his name is Scruften - replies,

“Sure, that was pretty cool, but you know you don’t have to keep it up, right?” They turn to her.

“What do you mean?” Scorpia looks genuinely confused.

“Constant flattery of the Boss. Like we know she’s great - that’s why we’re here.”

“Well sure, I know - I’m just always so impressed!” Scorpia raises her claw to the bartender for a refill.

Kensa, a tall, skinny, snake-like girl jumps in, “Oh man, no guys - I think she’s for real; and got it baaaaad!” The group laughs.

“What do you mean??” Scorpia blushes deeply and the bartender chuckles as she refills her drink. “We’re just best friends!” They laugh even harder.

“Buddy, your blush is a dead giveaway. You liiiiiike her.” Kensa says, wiping a tear from her eye.

“Oh no! I-I mean of course I like her, but not like that! At least, I don’t think...” Scorpia adds the last part more quietly, turning towards the bar. The guys in the group keep laughing and move on to a different topic, but Kensa notices the movement and slides into the seat next to Scorpia. 

“Hey, it’s okay if you do. There’s nothing wrong with having a crush on someone - even if that someone is kinda crazy.”

“She’s not crazy!” Scorpia counters defensively. “She’s just misunderstood. She had a rough go of it, and she’s gotten much better at showing her feelings.”

“Either that or you’ve just gotten better at reading them. The only emotions I’ve ever seen her show are anger or… yeah, just anger.” Kensa chuckles and takes another swig.

“Catra has more than just anger! She makes sure that everyone here is fed and has access to water and booze! She lets in anyone who wants to join!”

She snorts, “Yeah after they fight for their life for her amusement. I get it, you have the hots for her so it’s hard to see her flaws. So tell me this: when has she treated you like the incredible friend that you are? Has she ever apologised for snapping at you?”

“Catra only snaps when she’s hungry or hasn’t slept or is stressed out!” Kensa shoots her a look. “W-which is fairly often but I get it! I get hangry too! And running the biggest gang in the Crimson Waste - probably ever - is not easy!”

“Defensive much?” Kensa sips her drink, but continues looking over at Scorpia. She hangs her head.

“Yeah, sorry. It’s … it’s the little things with Catra. Sometimes she’ll give me something that she thinks I’ll like, or lets me go to bed while she stays up to plan. She listens to my ideas…”

“Oh yeah, real romantic stuff.” Kensa rolls her eyes. “If you want something with her, you’re probably going to have to be direct-- but Scorpia?” She looks up from her drink. “You deserve the best. You’re sweet. You’re thoughtful. You’re smart,  _ and  _ you’re strong. Don’t let anyone,  _ including  _ Catra, make you feel otherwise.”

Scorpia smiles, a light blush covering her cheeks. “Thanks, Kensa.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry I promise the catradora is coming, just gotta set the scene first ya feel? (also idk why ch1 end notes are showing up on ch 2 im really sorry i cant figure it out)
> 
> Next time: No more feelings. No more crying. Leaders don’t cry.


	4. Where is Catra?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We check in on Adora and co, Scorpia finds a newspaper, Catra has a rough day.  
> TW: swearing, a lot of swearing, violence/torture, PTSD implied

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everybody for kudos!! They mean a lot :) Feel free to leave comments! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> And thank you Kate for proofreading! It's so super helpful to have a second set of eyes to snag my typos <3

After a particularly exhausting princess alliance meeting, Adora slouches in her chair while the others file out. Since the battle in the Northern Reach three months ago, the Horde hadn’t attacked in force, only sending a handful of bots at a time. Glimmer and Angella had argued over whether they should be using this time to plan an attack of their own, or to regroup and map out more strategies. The Horde’s actions had put everyone on edge, and after hours of deliberating, they finally decided to resume tomorrow afternoon. 

“Adora?” She feels a touch on her shoulder and looks up to see Bow looking at her with concern. “Are you okay?”

She sighs. “I’m fine, Bow, it's just-  _ ugh _ I don’t know. Something feels off about the Horde’s movements lately. No big battles, lots of bots, nothing else that we know of… it seems like they’re planning something big, but we can’t see it. I know Catra - she’s just biding her time, and that only ever happens when there’s something else in the works. But...” 

“But?” He looks at her, confused.

“But it doesn’t, doesn’t  _ feel  _ like her. She would put more of an effort into keeping us distracted to keep us off the scent if there were something big coming. More bots, more stretched out, direct attacks. I don’t know, maybe she knows that this would make us nervous - but then why would she  _ want  _ us to prepare?”

“Hmm, maybe we should try to get some intel, send in a spy or plant a camera?” He squeezes her shoulder lightly, giving her what he hopes is an encouraging smile. “For now, I think that using this time to regroup and fortify borders is our best move though.” 

Adora nods, but can’t shake the weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scorpia knocks on the door to Catra’s room. The first room is more of an office with a large table, and her actual room with her bed is behind the door on the other wall. It kept it hidden and away from noise - also serving as a warning if anyone was coming to disturb her. 

“Catra? It’s me.” She pokes her head into the first room, but Catra’s not there. She walks in to knock on the other door, but something on the table catches her eye. Amongst various maps, there’s a newspaper from one of the western, princess-controlled towns. A picture of She-Ra and some princesses with the townsfolk covered the top half, titled:  **“"SHE-RA SUCCESS: Town of Moorstone Recovered from Evil Horde!"**

_ Were we always seen as evil to the people of Etheria? _ She wonders. Seeing the princesses’ faces made Scorpia’s stomach turn. They looked so proud of themselves, and like such a close group of friends.

_ Oh man, Catra must be so torn up about this. She probably feels guilty about leaving the Horde, and sad seeing her ex-best friend with all those people, looking so happy. _

She turns from the table and crosses the room to the back door where Catra sleeps. She knocks. “Catra?” No response, so she tries again. “Catra?”

Finally a muffled response comes from the other side of the door. “Go  _ away _ .”

“Aw wildcat. It’s okay, I’m sure the Horde will take those towns back.” She moves to open the door, but it’s locked. Catra doesn’t respond, so Scorpia sits on the other side of the door. “I know that Adora is a tough topic for you, but now we’re not in the Horde so, ” she takes a deep breath, “so you don’t have to be enemies anymore. I know she left and that probably still hurts, but maybe now you can be friends again?” More silence.

Scorpia stays for a little while longer, then stands. If Catra was open to talking about it, she would try to have the conversation, or at least open the door, so Scorpia leaves it alone. She decides to take care of the day-to-day for her, because it doesn’t seem like Catra is up for anything at the moment.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_ Fuck, fuck, fuck. Stop it. No more  _ feelings _. No more  _ crying _. Leaders don’t cry. Suck it up and stuff it down. _

After receiving the newspaper this morning, Catra had locked herself in her room. She isn’t sure how long it’s been. Seeing Adora’s face ripped open that hole inside of her all over again. Even in black and white, Adora’s smile seems to beam out from the page; Catra can almost  _ see _ the rainbows oozing from the princess’s pores. Despite the shitty quality of the photo, seeing that smile evokes a wave of memories that force their way to the front of Catra’s mind.

Adora’s laugh. Adora’s cocky smile when they teased. Adora’s warmth in their bunk. Adora’s strength during sparring. She-Ra. Their battles. The hurt. The betrayal. Adora, limp in Scorpia’s arms in the Northern Reach...

She isn’t sure how long it’s been - too long, probably. 

_ Why does it  _ hurt  _ so bad? _

With all of the gang stuff that she had been working on, she let it take over the part of her mind that had been used to focusing on destroying the princesses when she was in the Horde. It filled her need to be occupied, and took her mind off of the burning betrayals that she left behind. 

_ When did I let ‘Boss Catra’ become my identity? When did it change my goals? When did my plan of returning to finish what I started stop being a priority? _

The questions burned in her mind. 

She never forgot about Adora, but the thoughts had changed. The feelings had changed. She still wanted to win, she still hates what happened, but she started being able to sleep at night. She would never admit to it, but sometimes she would curl up at the end of her bed, pretending it was their bunk from so long ago. 

Seeing Adora look so  _ happy _ with all of her new friends stung so much, especially after so long. So long away from the action of war, away from having that  _ new  _ friendship shoved down her throat every single fight. She forgot how much she liked chasing Adora, even though it hurt. How much she liked creating elaborate plans to trick them, most of said plans involving her distracting Adora, leading her away from the fight… 

Sometimes when her thoughts would drift, she would imagine how, where and when she would see Adora again. It almost always involved her back with the Horde in a battle. ‘ _ Hey Adora, it’s been awhile. _ ’ or ‘ _ Hey Adora, long time no see. _ ’ or even just ‘ _ Hey Adora _ .’ Picturing the shock on her face used to be fun. Now it felt different, less likely, less motivating.  _ Would  _ she ever see Adora again? Her intentions of rejoining the Horde had been pushed to the back of her mind for so long. Faded, almost out of existence.  _ If I don’t go back, will I ever see her again? _

_ Why does it matter if I see her again or not? I don’t care. I shouldn’t care. She kept on living and so did I - so what does it matter. Fuck this, just sleep it off. _

The tears begin to slow and Catra is somewhat able to breathe again. Then she hears Scorpia outside her door. 

_ Dammit _ ,  _ just leave me  _ alone _. _

She hears her stop in the office part of her quarters, and realizes that she had left the newspaper out there. As predicted, Scorpia knocks on her door and tries to talk about it. It just makes Catra lash out and cry harder.

_ I don’t deserve her help. I don’t deserve to have anyone follow me, all I do is fuck everything up. Everyone I trust just turns on me and leaves. _

Eventually, Catra fades into the unconscious bliss of sleep.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Catra feels the hairs on the back of her neck raise before she even opens her eyes. Jumping off the bed while reaching for her whip on the nightstand nearby she looks around wildly -- but there’s nothing there. Just a quiet, dark room. 

Too quiet. 

Too dark. 

Catra’s always had great night vision, but now she feels the pitch black closing in from all edges until she can’t even see the bed a few feet away. Her hand drops the whip involuntarily and her whole body goes still, back straight and tail rigid. She feels the burning crackle of electricity across her fur, but now she can’t breathe either. With a flash, the electric towers in Hordak’s lab materialize around her, depriving her of oxygen. Shadow Weaver appears out of the dark to her side, and Hordak walks into view on the other. 

**_“Pathetic.”_ **

**_“Insolent child.”_ **

**_“Useless.”_ **

**_“Failure.”_ **

Their voices echo throughout the room, chanting louder and louder in her ears. Directly in front of her, Catra sees a white shadow through her misted eyes. All of her body strains for breath. The screeching of metal on metal reaches her ears and her stomach drops. She-Ra steps into the light of Catra’s enclosure. She slowly lifts her eyes, taking in every inch of Catra’s stiffened body. Catra forces herself to look away, but out of her peripheral vision she sees the giant woman reach her second hand over to grip her sword. Looking up, Catra’s blue and gold eyes meet bright, unnaturally red ones. 

Her vision blurry from the lack of air and the moisture collecting there, all she can do is watch as her now-corrupted former best friend winds up with the sword. _ It’s my fault. This is all my fault. I deserve this, this is how I die and I deserve every second of it. _ The tears begin flowing from her eyes as She-Ra swings, aiming right for Catra’s face. 

_ Adora... _

Catra squeezes her eyes shut on reflex and she inhales sharply-- wait, inhales? She collapses, wheezing short breaths between violet coughs. Her cheek feels warm and damp; she leans into the touch. “Catra.” Her tone is soft, concerned. They’re five again. Catra hiding behind boxes on the often-deserted fourth floor. She had been reprimanded by Shadow Weaver for not focusing in class, helplessly bound by red magic cracking across her skin in familiar patterns. She was hiding her tears and collecting her breath when Adora found her.

“It happened again?” All she can do is nod, avoiding those big blue eyes. Adora sits next to her, pulling the cat into her lap and gently petting her fur. Catra turns over to face her, but now they’re much older. Catra wants to scream: ‘ _ You left me! I’ll never follow you! We were enemies! You broke your promise! You hate me... _ ’ But nothing leaves her mouth when she tries. Instead she leans up and hugs Adora close. There’s a faint thumping in the distance, getting steadily louder.

“Nooo…” Catra groggily opens her eyes, but all she’s hugging is a damp pillow. Someone is knocking on her door - thankfully it’s still locked from yesterday. The dream has left her with a strange knot in her stomach. Sighing, she gets up to face the day. Maybe punching something will help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Catra's had a rough go of it :,( Hope you enjoyed a little from Adora's perspective though! Figured we should check in with her ;) 
> 
> Next time: A cat in the desert? She can’t be that hard to find.


	5. Intel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora runs into some old friends.

A month has passed. Three weeks ago, the alliance switched to the offensive, taking back towns and pushing their borders further into Horde territory. Along the way, they’d recruited many soldiers, each willing to help the rebellion protect their homes. On their way back from another successful run, Adora spots a Horde group along a path through the forest. “Ha ha! They’re in retreat!” Shouts Glimmer. The three of them ride on Swift Wind’s back as he sails through the sky, and are headed back home.

“Wait! Swifty, bring us in.”

“What are you doing?” Glimmer squeaks.

“Um, Adora? We won, and we don’t have enough guest rooms for that many prisoners.” Bow adds.

“Yes buuuut this could be a good intel grab!” With no new information on the Horde’s plans, and no sign of Catra in months, Adora is determined to check it out. They swoop down on the path ahead and wait to ambush the unsuspecting troop. 

On Adora’s count they spring into action, Bow taking the rear with Glimmer and Adora on the flanks. It quickly devolved into chaos, soldiers running in every direction, trying to get into the transport that held their weapons. Lonnie, Rogelio and Kyle jump out, ready to defend their position. 

“Adora! What the hell??”

“Oh hey guys!” She-Ra replies, throwing three soldiers over her shoulder. “Just dropping by, wanted to ask how you’re doing, see what you’ve been up to-” She quickly ropes up the fallen soldiers and shoves them toward Swift Wind to put them with the others next to the transport.

“We’re not telling you anything!” Lonnie shouts defiantly. Kyle lightly taps her shoulder. “ _ What _ ?!” she snaps at him before realizing that the three of them are surrounded. Kyle swallows loudly and Rogelio lets out a low growl. 

She-Ra levels her sword at them. “What is Catra planning?” Lonnie starts laughing, making Adora knit her eyebrows in confusion. “ _ What _ ?”

Lonnie wipes a tear from her eye. “You’ll never find her.”

“Where. Is. She.” Bow and Glimmer shoot each other a worried look.

“No one knows, not since Hordak sent her into the Crimson Waste.” The Horde comrades all look down for a moment, but She-Ra is too busy to notice. 

“See? Was that so hard?” She throws a rope around them, then grabs Glimmer and Bow onto Swift Wind. “Thanks guys! See you soon!” and they take off.

“Adora? They didn’t even tell us what the Horde’s planning!” Glimmer points out while tightly gripping Bow to maintain balance during their quick ascension.

Bow nods. “Glimmer’s right, I think we may have ditched too early.”

“Pshh!” Adora waves her hand nonchalantly. ”We got everything we need. A cat in the desert? She can’t be that hard to find.” 

“But there’s no way that Catra would tell us what’s going on!” Glimmer huffs. She never did like Catra.

“We don’t need her to! She’s second in command now according to Shadow Weaver, so she’s going to be in the middle of whatever we need to know about.” Adora’s determination is practically palpable.

“I hope you’re right.” Bow says, sharing another worried look with Glimmer. She-Ra doesn’t turn around, confidence and adrenaline speeding her thoughts.

As it turns out, the rest of the princess alliance agreed with her friends. Adora tries to convince them that a mission to the Waste is critical, but to no avail. No one else seems to think that it’s as important as Adora does, or they don’t believe that Lonnie was telling the truth.

_ Why can’t they see? Catra’s  _ always _ got something up her sleeve, and if she’s been working on it for this long then it HAS to be important! _

“Fine.” Adora says, standing. The room goes quiet. “At least let me go. Swifty and I can just run a quick scouting mission to see if there’s Horde activity in the area. If not, then no biggie. If there is, we’ll come back and let you all know.” She looked around the room, most members were uncertain, but either nodding or shrugging their approval of her suggestion.

“Then it’s settled. You and Swift Wind will leave in the morning and return to us to report what you’ve found.” Angella stood. “In the meantime, we should all get some rest. Congratulations again to all of you on today’s success.”

Adora can hardly sleep all night, anxious thoughts of what Catra and the Horde might be up to keep interrupting her attempts at sleep. The next morning, Bow and Glimmer hug Adora tight. “Be careful, and don’t start any fights without us!”

Adora smiles. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back before you know it!” And with that, she takes off.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The morning is beautiful, not a cloud in the sky. Adora notices the impressive view, but can’t bring herself to enjoy it as much as she would’ve liked. Her body is filled with buzzing anticipation about what the day may bring. As they approach the heat of the desert, Swift Wind begins descending. “Hey! We’re almost there, why are we landing here?”

“If this is a stealth mission, you’re gonna need some new clothes. Also, I’m hungry and I can smell the hay from here.” Swifty calls over his shoulder.

Adora sighs. “Fine, just a quick pit stop. Then, to the Waste!”

They land by a small path on the outskirts of a small town. The farmers give them weary glances as they pass, making Adora knit her brow in confusion and concern. A group of Horde soldiers round the corner on the path ahead, and Adora grabs Swift Wind. They duck behind a haystack until the patrol is out of sight. 

“That was close.” Swifty observes. 

Adora nods in agreement. “Looks like we’ll have to keep a low profile here.” 

The pair stops at a supply shop toward the edge of town, Swift Wind nibbling at the grass outside while Adora enters. Inside, the shop is dimly lit, most of its shelves bare or broken. “Whoa, it looks pretty cleared out in here…” The shopkeep glances up from where he’s sweeping up broken glass. He looks at her for a moment, deciding whether she poses a threat, before responding.

“It’s those damn bandits. Every few weeks they ransack our town, taking everything that isn’t nailed down and breaking whatever is. Between them and the Horde demanding half our harvest, it’s been tough living.” The glass clinks as it’s swept into a dust pan.

“I’m really sorry about that.” Adora places a bland cloak and a small bag on the counter along with some coins for payment. “Just a completely unbiased traveler’s wondering but: have you contacted the Rebellion? They can help fight the Horde and the bandits! They’ve freed over thirty towns in the past month!” Thirty is an exaggeration but it had to be close to that by now.

“And drag ourselves into the front lines of a war we didn’t start and don’t want any part of?” He takes the coins and slides her new belongings back. “No thanks.” 

Adora opens her mouth to argue more, but Swift Wind pokes his head in the door. “Are you ready yet?”

“Coming!” She stuffs her red jacket into the bag and throws the cloak over her shoulders before running after Swift Wind, leaving a stunned shop owner to ponder if he had really just witnessed a horse talk.

Within minutes they were flying over nothing but sand dunes and canyons, the warm color palette matching the heat.  _ This is  _ so  _ much faster than walking.  _ Adora muses, thinking back to the last time she was here.

“On a mission to the Crimson Waste! Here to look for a Horde scheme! It’s so hot I wish it were a dream~!”

“Swifty!”

“What?”

“Stealth.”

“Oh, right.” He continues humming quietly. Another hour passes with no sign of any Horde activity. Adora considers going to a town to ask the locals, but then thinks better of it when she remembers her experience at the tavern. 

“What’s that?” Swifty asks, nodding his head toward the horizon. A small, moving dot could be seen, leaving a trail of dust in its wake. As they get closer, Adora recognizes the sound.

“It’s a skiff!” 

“Is that what we came here for?”

“No, but it’ll lead us to base! Follow it!” And so they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading and leaving comments/kudos! I really appreciate it <3 Again thank you Kate for checking my tenses haha. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! We're getting closer and closer to my favorite scene that hopefully will come with some extra content for you all!
> 
> Next time: It was easy without his helmet or stun baton. -- Wait, what?


	6. A Closer Look 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra has a headache, DT is fabulous, Adora is hot (they're in a desert! get your mind out of the gutter!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay, in all honesty I didn't think anyone was reading past the first chapter haha but thank you so much to those who have commented! I ended p splitting this chapter into two parts because it was really long in comparison to the others but I'll drop the other part tonight as well! Enjoy!

Catra stands over a map on the table in the command room. It depicts the whole of the Crimson Waste - most of which she controls. She had ordered the building of multiple hideouts throughout her territory for quick getaways and added storage space, but the added territory has made it harder to keep her gang a secret.

It’s also forced her to put more trust in the members, because she has many talents, but being in multiple places at once is not all of them. Catra is used to holding large areas from her days in the Horde, but the soldiers there had been brainwashed as children, so they were easy to control. These ruffians are less trusting, and they’ve pretty much all come from one side of the war or another - thus proving that any one of them are willing to leave at any given time. The secrecy of the waste protects them all, and it was the reason anyone came here - to disappear.

She paces the room, huffing to herself in frustration. It had been a hell of a day. Her scouts informed her that morning that the Horde is now occupying the towns surrounding the Waste to the east, which, prior to the arrival of more troops, were the easiest to raid. In-house fights were the best and easiest way to train her gang for battle, but any more fights would, as Scorpia put it, “burn them out.” 

Catra stops pacing and plants her hands on the table, consulting her map again.

Theoretically, they could go after the towns further to the west, but those were in princess territory and then word would spread that the Waste is habited and they would be a known threat and therefore a target. 

At least with the Horde, Catra knew that Hordak would never admit to being wrong, so he would only send minimal defenses to keep the knowledge of his slipping grip on those towns between fewer people. He would also never attack because he had groomed his soldiers to be afraid of the waste; for example sending his Force General there when he finds out she lied to him. Yeah, that one still stings a little. The princesses though? They would tell all of Etheria in a heartbeat. She would also end up helping the Horde by distracting them, so for now she let the princess towns be -- for the most part. 

Scorpia noticed Catra avoiding the west weeks ago, and she suggested that they strike a deal, paying the townsfolk with safe passage through the Crimson Waste and plenty of rowdy customers for their businesses. It was a good idea, but had Catra really gone so soft as to strike deals? She much preferred taking what she needed and leaving her victims in fear. But it would make sense… maybe she could strike a deal and use fear to keep the towns from informing the princesses? But then she would be challenged by her gang members who only stayed in line because of the fear that she had worked so hard to instill in them. She tilts her head up and massages her temples to ease the intensifying headache. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hordak finishes soldering two pieces of metal together, his portal growing in size and accuracy every day. Entrapta is a …  _ sufficient…  _ lab…  _ assistant _ . Aside from the fact that he had to remind her daily that Catra is not coming back, he doesn’t entirely hate her company. He hears the door whoosh open, and his ear twitches in irritation. Growling he turns around.

“How DARE you enter my sanct--” He cuts off mid sentence, staring surprised at Entrapta who is wearing… less than usual. 

“Entrapta. You don’t usually use the door.” He pulls his eyes away. “Your timing is optimal. I have just finished the edits to the-” She jumps up to sit on his workbench next to the hot metal, staring up at him.

“Hordak, you look like you haven’t slept in ages.” His eyebrows, or rather, where they would be, furrows. 

“I’ve told you before, I do not require--”

“That wasn’t what I meant.” His claw flies to her throat, lifting the small princess up off the bench.

He hears the rustle of hair behind him. “Hordak! I found the driver for the octagdri--” The tool bit clammers to the floor. “H-Hordak?”

He looks back and forth between the two Entraptas. “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!”

“Y-you  _ cloned  _ me?” Entrapta looks both concerned and impressed. “Great! Now we - or I? - can get twice the work done!”

The Entrapta in his grasp lets out a low chuckle. “Not quite, dear.” The form beneath his claw shifts, black and green morphing into someone else entirely. Hordak jumps back. The form sitting on the bench is tall and lean, with green scaled skin, blonde hair and yellow eyes. They bow, tilting up their head to give a smile that reveals pointed teeth. “Double Trouble, at your service - for a price, of course.” Entrapta zooms forward, eyes shining she lets out a squeal. 

“A shape shifter! I’ve heard of them but I’ve never seen one in person!” Her hair flips down a pair of glasses, and whips out a multitude of tools. “Can I  _ please  _ do some tests?” Double Trouble looks down at the very excited, crazed-looking princess who is looking very closely at their skin.

“I’ve had a lot of reactions to my skills, this is a first though.” They mutter, trying to inch away from Entrapta’s violation of personal space, but Entrapta just moves with them.

Hordak is still unsure what to make of all this. “This--” 

“Great! It’ll only take a bit!” She grabs Double Trouble by the arm and drags them out of the sanctum, leaving a stunned Hordak to stare after them.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adora and Swift Wind follow the skiff at a distance until the sun begins to set, then the skiff loops around a canyon braced by a huge skeleton, with the head turned backwards towards the ribs. There’s a light from inside the skull, throwing toothy shadows and glowing out the eyes creepily. “This must be it.” They follow the skiff through twists and turns formed by the huge dunes until it disappears into an opening in the canyon wall. Two guards stand just inside the door, closing it after the skiff passes through. Adora walks up to the door. There’s no keypad or handle or anything, just a sandy, camouflage-painted metal door.

Adora jumps off of Swift Wind and pulls out her sword.

“I don’t think we’re going to get in this way, at least, not quietly. Let’s go back and check out that skull.” Swifty nods, flying them up and around to the base of the huge skull. Adora peers through one of the openings in the tent. A few guards sit on crates at the front of the tent, playing cards. “Can you distract them while I go in?”

“You bet! Call if you need my mighty assistance!” And with that he takes off running, jeering at the guards while he goes. They jump up, one of them calling to another group and they take off after Swifty, leaving just the one guard. Adora takes him out with a kick to the back of his head from behind. It was easy without his helmet or stun baton. 

_ Wait, what?  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!!
> 
> Next time: "Wait... you left the Horde?"


	7. A Closer Look 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of Adora looking for catra in the waste

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A continuation! Enjoy :)  
> TW: swearing, angst

“Boss Catra!” Her brow furrows in annoyance. 

“What?!” She snaps at the unlucky soul who desturbed her, ear twitching.

“Th-the last skiff has returned. You said to notify you as soon as it came back.” The goat girl, who somehow appointed herself Catra’s assistant and/or one of the upper commanders despite a lack of fighting skill, stands in the doorway.

“Right.” Her headache grows stronger. “Tell them I want a full report asap.” The girl scrambles out of the room to go fetch the scouting team. 

_ Why won’t this headache go away?! _

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adora rushes into the tent, but there’s no Horde emblem in sight - and not much in there either. Just a table, a radio, some weapons and armor. There is a large rug, and luckily, a sandy trail across it that stops near the corner. She pulls it up to reveal a trap door. 

_ So this is where they’re hiding it! This must be a  _ really  _ covert operation if there isn’t any insignia.  _

She glances back to make sure the guard is still unconscious, then descends the ladder. The metal tunnel stretches out before her, torches lighting the way.

_ That’s very… unusual. Wouldn’t the Horde use lights? Like in the Fright Zone? _

They throw moving shadows all about the passage, it makes Adora shiver. She sees a more steady light coming from off-shoots in the tunnel.  _ Maybe the electric is down just at this entrance?  _ Rowdy laughter echoes from down the hall, many voices talking and shouting over one another. She pulls her hood up to hide her face, then slips past the large room, unnoticed. 

Following the twists and turns of the underground maze, Adora can hear more voices up ahead.

“-the western towns are still basically defenseless, just a bunch of farmers. More Horde troops showed up along the eastern border. No activity from any hideouts except the northernmost post, said they’d run into some weird locals.”

“Run into? As in, they weren’t at their post?!” Adora’s eyes widen. She knows that voice, she’d know it anywhere.

“N-no Boss, the locals passed by while Jamath was scouting the perimeter.”

“Did he compromise the hideout position?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Tell your team to switch out the guards at the posts and bring him to me. You stay at base. I’ll get the truth if I have to strangle it out of him. GO!”

Adora quickly ducks behind some crates in the hall as someone scrambles out of the door ahead and runs at full tilt past her down the hall. Adora creeps closer to the doorway, and risks a quick peek inside. It’s a large, dimly lit room like most of the bunker is, a few boxes around the edges, a door on one wall, and a big table in the center. And there she is, Catra. 

_ Found you!  _ Adora ducks back into her hiding spot feeling her heart rate bump faster in her chest, as though they were eight again playing a game of hide and seek.  _ I _ knew  _ she’d be here planning!  _ Adora turns to sneak another look.

Catra’s standing at the helm of the table, weight on one leg with her head tilted back and one hand rubbing the bridge of her nose. She has dark circles under her eyes, but even so she’s beautiful. Her hair is now formed into big, long dreads, but still gives off the untamed mane look. Adora’s breath catches in her throat. She watches Catra’s tail swish as it does when she’s annoyed, but then it stops cold. Adora quickly ducks behind the door frame again, checking behind her to make sure she’s still alone. She turns back to the room, but Catra’s no longer there. Adora stands from her crouched position, and cautiously takes a step inside. 

Suddenly, Catra’s face is upside-down and an inch from hers. “Boo.” Adora yelps in surprise as Catra grabs her by her shirt, pulling her inside and shutting the door behind them. She gracefully drops from the ceiling into a crouched fighting position.

Adora throws off the cloak, grabbing her sword. “ForthehonorofGrayskull!” She says as quickly as she can - knowing that Catra was always faster than her (or anyone else for that matter) but as She-Ra, her improved strength helps in the fight. The transformation’s light brightens the room.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The stupid scout scrambles out of the room as fast as she can, footsteps echoing down the hall. Catra takes a moment to breathe deeply, pinching the bridge of her nose.

_ Idiots. All of them. No wonder my head hurts this bad. _

She eases the pressure from her hand, inhaling again - that  _ smell _ . She freezes. It’s coated lightly by the smell of horse and something musty, but Catra knows that scent. The one that comforted her as she drifted to sleep for so many years, the one that intoxicated her and urged her on during sparring, the one that told her when to expect a ‘surprise’ tickle attack. The one she used to hunt night after night, full of betrayal, pain, hope, and rage. Sometimes she dreamed about that smell. She hated how much feeling still came with it. But this time she wasn’t imagining, as it had wafted through the door in the wake of the scurrying scout. 

_ Great. Now we’re compromised anyways, and the princess squad is probably right behind her. _

Catra opens her eyes to see a hood ducking behind the door frame. _ Oh no you don’t.  _

She silently crosses the room, jumping to grab the support beam above the door. The scent grows stronger. She doesn’t have to wait long before Adora peeks around the corner, and then cautiously steps into the room. Swinging down with her knees holding her on the beam, she takes a split second to revel in the surprise on Adora’s face. “Boo.” Snatching the front of Adora’s shirt, she throws her into the room, dropping from the ceiling and kicking the door shut on her way down.

_ The last thing I need is one of my members seeing She-Ra in my room, or a princess barging in to gang up on me. _

“Hey Ador-”  _ The transformation light is always so  _ bright _ , with that  _ dumb  _ outfit showing off huge muscles and that  _ stupid  _ hair.  _ “-a.”  _ Dammit. _ That last syllable comes out as a whisper.

She-Ra now stands before the catgirl, pointing the sword of protection directly at her. Catra snaps back into fight mode, using the palm of her hands to push the flat of the sword away as she spins toward the giant woman. She finishes the spin with an ankle to the back of She-Ra’s knee, sending her down and away from Catra, in the same direction she had forced the sword. 

Catra jumps at the falling princess, but then sees She-Ra’s left hand coming in backwards to hit her, as she had used the sword to keep herself from falling. Catra braces for the impact, throwing her arms in an x to block her body from the hit. It connects and she crashes into the wall, thrusting her feet under her to land in a crouch.

“Long time no see, Catra.”  _ Stupid dumb fucking annoy- _ Catra snarls and picks up pipe from the box behind her then jumps at the princess.

She-Ra catches the pipe with her sword, a loud clang exploding from the collision. “The Crimson Waste was a smart move - didn’t think we’d find you out here, did you?”

Catra laughs hollowly. “Ha. You say that like I had a choice.” She jumps backward, rotating to deliver sweeping a kick toward her opponent’s ankles. She-Ra jumps it, then reaches out to grab the foot as she lands, pulling Catra to the ground.

“Right, good little Catra just follows orders and totally isn’t the Horde’s second in command.”

Catra uses her other foot to kick at She-Ra’s face, slipping out of her grip and jumping back to her feet. She swings the pipe again, yet again connecting with the sword. 

“Oh Adora, always so clueless.” She sneers. “Those losers? They couldn’t keep up.” She bites back a laugh, settling for just a smirk as she watches the confusion play out on Adora’s face. She could practically see the wheels turning behind that dumb tiara.

“Wait…. You left the Horde?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was it, this was the scene that I had in my head when I started writing the fic so i'm excited to see where we go from here! Please drop a comment if you feel so inclined :) this one was fun to write love a fight scene
> 
> Next time: Turning the next corner still lost in thought, she walks face-first into---


	8. Reunions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exactly what it sounds like! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit short but I just couldn't wait to release it (I'm on a roll tonight! and probably won't have much time this semester). anyways, hope you like it!

“Wait…. You left the Horde?” She-Ra pushes the pipe with her sword and steps back, looking confused. It made sense though, no Horde logo anywhere in the compound, the lack of attacks over the past several months.

Catra laughs dryly. “Oh Adora, I’d forgotten just how dense you are.” When She-Ra blinks at her in response she sighs. “I didn’t  _ leave  _ the Horde, Hordak sent me out here to DIE and instead, I built my own empire from the sand up.”

“So….we don’t have to be fighting?” She-Ra lowers the sword cautiously.

Catra shrugs, tossing the pipe to the side. ”You started it.”

“I did not!” Adora transforms back into herself, moving to sheathe the sword on her back.

Catra immediately pounces on her, pinning her and throwing the sword to the side and out of Adora’s reach in a swift motion. “Well that was stupid, even for you. Now I’ve got the rebellion’s most prized warrior.” She drawls. “Maybe I  _ should  _ give good ol’ Hordak a call, seeing as there’s a pretty big bounty on your head, and an even bigger one on that sword of yours.” As if sentient, the sword glints in the dim light.

Adora counters, “Why would you, when you could help me take him down instead?”

“Ugh for the last time I’m  _ never  _ going to join your stupid rebellion!” Catra’s nose scrunches in a sneer. “The reason that any of us are here is because we are all  _ sick  _ and  _ tired  _ of being told what to do by sissy princesses or  _ stupid, weak  _ lab rats. Out here, it’s take what you want or do what you're told. I wanted an empire, and guess. How. Many. I’ve. Taken.” 

Adora is quiet for a moment, staring up at Catra as her face changes from hurt to an expression that the gang leader can’t quite read. “I’m.... I’m really proud of you Catra.” Catra’s eyes widen, then narrow; her guard dropping for a second before snapping back, suspicion and distrust clear on her face. Adora pauses to take a breath before continuing.

“In just a couple of months you’ve managed to take command of the toughest groups of people in Etheria. Not only that, but you no longer have to take orders! You give them, which suits you  _ much  _ better. And what about all those troops they’ve sent? Your army has really started to scare the Horde!”

“.....whatever” She huffs with her ears back, the tip of her tail swishing. She could feel the light blush heating her face. She shifts her weight, but keeps a firm grip on Adora’s wrists.

“No really! And I know you won’t want to hear this, but you’re actually helping the rebellion by stretching their resources. Hordak was stupid to send away the best commander the Horde has ever had. So, thank you Catra.” Adora gives her one of those classic, dorky grins despite their current position.

_ Did she just call me the Horde’s best commander? Jesus christ why does the only one who can recognize my efforts have to be you? _

“stop.”

Adora’s smile falters, her eyebrows creasing; “Stop what?” she asks, confused. Catra gets up, turning her back on her former enemy, digging her claws into her upper arms.

“UGH! Pretending that you  _ like  _ me now. I’ll- I’ll never be a part of your rebellion and I didn’t leave because of you or your dumb friends or anyone else!”

Adora’s smile is soft and a little sad. She carefully gets up and retrieves her sword where it lay. Feeling Catra’s eyes on her back as she approaches the door, she turns to meet her gaze. “I know.” It was almost a whisper, but she knew Catra could hear.  _ That’s why I’m so proud. _ She gives Catra another smile before walking out.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The whole encounter had left Adora feeling ...warm? She could still feel where Catra had been gripping her wrists and where her… Adora’s face heats up and she clears her throat to herself. Turning the next corner still lost in thought, she walks face-first into a large body. Something clammers to the floor.

“Oh my goodness! Are you okay?” Scorpia asks with concern, grabbing her collide-ee by the shoulders before stepping back. Her face flashes through emotions: genuine concern puppy brows up, eyes wide recognition, one brow up confusion, then anxiety, processing, brief anger, and sadness as she realizes the one scenario that could have led to Adora walking out relatively unscathed and of her own free will. Quickly, she slaps an attempt at her neutral-happy look on her face before wearily stammering: “Oh. Oh hey Adora! Long time no see, you look… less floppy than last time.”

“Scorpia! Wow hey hi, I didn’t realize that you were out here too.” Adora shakes her head then suddenly drops into a defensive stance. “Are you still with the Horde??”

“Me?! Oh gosh no, I came with Catra to find the First Ones tech that Hordak wanted but then we were having so much fun we decided to stay.” Adora looks stunned. 

“That’s… that’s great, Scorpia. And thank you, for looking out for her.” Scorpia smiles and nods, glad that her efforts hadn't gone unrecognized - even if it was from her sort-of rival. “Oh! You dropped your-” Adora bends down to pick up whatever had fallen earlier. Upon a closer look, it was a headpiece. Dark metal with a smooth band to clip into her mane, their insignia centered on the front: a set of fangs centered over a claw, surrounded by a whip. “This is beautiful.” Adora breathes as she stares at it for a minute before handing it back to Scorpia.

Scratching behind her head with a giant claw, Scorpia chuckles. “Haha yeah, figured she’d need a new one.”

“You’re a really great friend Scorpia.” Adora tries to smile as she fights off old memories. Voices could be heard around the corner, snapping her back to the moment, and she whips her head around nervously.

“Oh! Right, bandits don’t take nicely to princesses.” Scorpia quickly rummages through one of the boxes littering the hallway, and presents Adora with a jacket. “Here! We made a bunch of new ones when Catra took over, but this’ll work.” It’s a light denim with a half-finished logo on the back, just the fangs colored and the rest outlined. Adora quickly slips it on. “Wait!” Scorpia grabs the jacket’s arms and rips them off with one big pull. “There.”

Adora grins. “Thank you Scorpia, I owe you one!” Waving over her shoulder, she disappears running down the hallway. 

Scorpia looks down at the headpiece in her claws. She smiles, then turns the corner to Catra’s room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always feel free to leave comments or ideas or any grammar errors that may need fixing but uh content-wise I had fun writing it what do you all think?? Also if any of you feel so inclined to draw catra with dreadlocks in a crimson waste-inspired outfit you should do so and let me know where to find your art so I can put it in the chapter! If you want :)
> 
> Next time: A frankenprincess made from the body parts of all of the princesses and given life by lightning?!


	9. Reflections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> nervous energy leftovers, we check in on Hordak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to try to capture a certain type of energy in this one, I hope it worked! Enjoy!  
> TW: swearing (i think?)

_ What the fuck was _ that?!

Catra’s pacing around her room is making her feet warm. She had moved to her private quarters now, so she could frantically pace without judgement. According to her higher-ups, the only other incident this evening was a flying horse taunting her front guards and one of them passed out. Meaning: no other princesses, no army invading, no members lost, nothing stolen. Adora just showed up out of nowhere, then  _ left _ . It had to be an intel mission, none of her blueprints were missing though. She put her guards on high alert, but still feels uneasy.

_ “I’m proud of you.”  _ Adora’s words echo through her head. She stoops down to pick up the cloak that Adora left. Catra is lost in thought, replaying every second of the last encounter over and over in her mind.  _ Did she just- did she just come check on me? _

“Catra!” Scorpia’s voice comes from behind her, startling her out of her thoughts. Involuntarily, Catra jumps, fur poofed out and a squeak escaping despite her attempt not to. She lands on all fours, then quickly stands, smoothing out her tail. At least the dreads minimized her disgruntled appearance. Scorpia tries to hide her smile behind her claw but Catra can see it in her eyes. 

“Yes?” 

“Hi! I, uh, um. Permission to talk as friends?” 

Catra raises an eyebrow. “Granted?”

“Right! So how was your visit? Tell me everything!” Scorpia sits on the bed, claws up and eyes sparkling.

“UGH. Permission revoked.” Catra falls onto the bed next to her, covering her face.

“Nope! Not this time, wildcat. I want ALL the details!” 

“Wait, how did you know she was here?” Catra asks, leaning up on an elbow.

“I saw - well, bumped into - Adora in the hallway. She looked okay, so I figured she left on good terms.” Scorpia gives Catra a pointed look. “Oh! And I gave her a jacket too. Figured it would help her keep a low profile on the way out.” 

Catra, sighing, lays back down, covering her eyes with a hand. “Next time, apprehend her and throw her in the Ribs.” The Ribs is what they had nicknamed their fight dome.

“Aw, Catra.” Scorpia smiles, knowingly. “You don’t mean that.” She reaches inside her jacket, pulling out the headpiece. “I brought you something!”

Catra peeks through her fingers, her yellow eye glinting in the light. She sees the metal and sits up, taking the gift. She looks at it, running her thumb over the engraving. She looks back up at Scorpia, who is scratching the back of her neck with a claw and looking away.

“Since, you know, this is your thing now. Let me know how it fits! I can always get it adjusted…”

“...thanks.” It’s a beautiful piece, and it couldn’t have been easy for Scorpia to find someone to make it.

Scorpia blushes and grins. “You’re welcome.” They sit in silence for a few minutes. Catra takes off the headpiece from her days in the Horde, replacing it with the new one. The metal feels cool against her head. Looking at the old one, she realizes just how worn it is. The red faded to a lighter shade from the sun, scuffs and scrapes from some battle or another interrupting the uniform color. Her stomach knots and turns looking at how small it is in her hands now as opposed to how big it felt the first time she put it on.

“Sooo are you gonna tell me what happened?” Scorpia probes. 

“What?!” Catra jumps.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! We don’t have to if you don’t want to-” Catra quickly realizes that Scorpia is referring to the earlier incident, not to where her mind had gone just then. 

“It’s fine.” Catra sighs, shifting her weight. “I mean, what was she even thinking? Walking in here like she owns the place with that  _ stupid  _ sword, no back up or anything? Ugh.” She stands up and resumes pacing.

“Yeah it does seem weird that she just, you know, left.” Scorpia offers, her head turning back and forth to follow the cat.

“Well now all of Etheria is going to know we’re here, so we might as well start raiding the west.” Catra throws her hands in the air, exasperated. “It’ll be easier than messing with the Horde reinforcements.”

“I mean, we could still just go talk to them before we start going in guns blazing.” Catra looks over, opening her mouth to argue the same side she had last time, but Scorpia holds up a claw. “We don’t know that Adora’s going to tell the princesses that we’re here, and even if she does, we’re none of their business. To be honest, she seemed surprised that we left the Horde - and didn’t want to fight once she knew that.” 

Catra ponders her friend’s words. She still doesn’t want to be viewed as weak, as that could be risking mutiny. “Fine. If you want to try making a deal, you do it. Good luck keeping these assholes from breaking it though.” she gestures towards the mess hall, indicating their own members. Townsfolk are notoriously trusting and easy to manipulate, where bandits are a rough people. Fun, but slimy.

“Really?” Scorpia has those little tears at the edges of sparkly eyes. “You’d do that for me?”

“Ugh. Don’t get all mushy about it or I take it all back.” Scorpia grabs her in a big hug. “Technically it’ll be you doing it for you.”

But the big scorpion woman doesn’t hear the last part, she’s too busy showering Catra with thank yous.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adora sneaks out the way she came in, saluting awkwardly to the guards there. They give her a funny look, but then carry on making fun of their comrade who “fainted” at the sight of the “flying beast.” She follows the canyon wall a little ways before turning into She-Ra. 

_ Swift Wind, where are you? _

“Hey Adora!” She yelps, jumping back when Swift Wind comes around the corner behind her. “What is the Horde up to? Is it a super big bot? A flying contraption? A frankenprincess made from the body parts of all of the princesses and given life by lightning?!”

Adora turns back into herself, sighing. “No, Swifty.” She pauses, unsure of what to tell him. She’s a terrible liar, and Catra was her former enemy, but it felt wrong to explain everything. She isn’t sure that everyone would understand - or that Swift Wind would keep it a secret. So, she tells him a version of the truth.

“It’s actually not the Horde at all. Just some Crimson Waste gang with some old Horde tech.” She hopes he can’t see her sweating in the dark.

“Huh. That’s weird. You seemed sure the Horde would be here.” Adora swings onto his back and they take off towards Brightmoon. “Did you find any signs of Catra?” 

Adora blanches, she forgot that Swift Wind was there when they interrogated Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio. “Um uh n-no actually. No signs of her here!” She sweats harder.

Swift Wind turns his head around, looking unamused. “Adora, you know I can tell when you’re lying, right?”

She laughs nervously. “Y-yes, well, um, you see it’s-” She takes a breath to compose herself. “I found out that Hordak sent her and Scorpia out here as punishment for something, so they’re actually, sort-of, not with the Horde anymore?”

“Oh! That actually explains a lot.” He turns back around. “I wonder what they did to be kicked out, didn’t Shadow Weaver say that Catra took her place as second in command?”

“Yeah, I wonder.” Adora furrows her brow and bites her lip, playing with a frayed edge of her new jacket as they sail through the cool night air.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It has now been a full two weeks since the shape shifter showed up in his sanctum. Hordak puts the final piece on his portal, but hesitates with his hand on the lever. The last several attempts, Entrapta was with him. She checked over his work, adding things and talking him down when they failed in an explosion of green light and energy.

Could she  _ still  _ be working on that cloaking technology? She said it wouldn’t take long, and to his knowledge she hadn’t lied to him before. His imp crawls up his leg, choosing to sit on his shoulder to relay the latest message. Entrapta’s voice rings out in the quiet room.

“-still! This one won’t hurt a bit!” Sounds of clattering and movement play through the imp’s open mouth. Another voice enters: “That’s what you said last time! How many measurements do you even need?! Oww!” Then the recording begins to repeat and Hordak waves his arm dismissively.

He considers testing this version of the portal again, weighing the pros and cons. It would really be optimal to have a second set of eyes… Sighing, he turns on his computer and calls the Black Garnet chamber that Entrapta has since turned into her personal workspace. The camera buzzes and whirrs to life, showing him the room full of gadgets and projects. 

Double Trouble is inside a cylindrical chamber, electric nodes attached to various points on their body and an IV attached to each arm. The shape shifter jumps, presumably from noticing Hordack’s electronic presence.

“Hordak!” Entrapta’s face comes into view. “I’ve made such great progress! Did you know that-”

“I require Double Trouble’s presence in my sanctum at once.” He hisses and shuts the video. It comes out more bitter than intimidating, but he shoves that thought to the back of his mind as he walks to his throne to wait. A few minutes later, he hears the door open and Double Trouble enters, looking somewhat disheveled. They make their way to the foot of his steps, then bow deeply.

_ At least this one is obedient.  _

“Double Trouble.” He clicks his nails on the armrest.

“Your highness. You’ve summoned me, does this mean you’ve fi- you’ve realized my potential for you?”

_ I’ve realized that my lab assistant has become distracted due to your presence. _ “I have an assignment for you.”

Double Trouble’s eyes light up at that. “Excellent! I’ve been thinking; I could go to the princesses as a scorned Entrapta, left behind from their mission to feed them ‘Horde secrets’ - all false, of course. Oo! Or as a small child with a tragic past, orphaned by the war seeking refuge-”

Hordak almost lets out a groan, instead he holds up his claw to silence this rambling. “You must complete training as any Horde recruit. I’m assigning you to Octavia’s squadron. Do whatever she asks, then we can discuss the use of your …  _ unique  _ abilities.”

Double Trouble looks disappointed, but bows anyways. “Of course. At once.” They saunter out, and Hordak releases a small huff. His failed clone tilts its head at him before opening its mouth. “Hordak!” Entrapta’s excited voice rings out and he quickly moves to kick the imp, but misses. It flaps around the room, cackling at its own devilish ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the comments and words of encouragement on the last chapter!! Melting my heart you guys ;,) As always feel free to let me know what you think or if you catch any grammar errors or just want to chat!
> 
> Next time: “What. Ship.”

**Author's Note:**

> All right! Now that we've got the groundwork laid out, let's get into the good stuff! 
> 
> Next time: “Yeesh this guy did NOT know how to run a gang. Lucky for them, I’m in charge now.”


End file.
